General Merchandise Stores

Within general merchandise stores in Sweden, similar to discounters in grocery retailers, variety stores’ positioning engendered robustness despite the difficult and unpredictable geopolitical and economic times. The main focus of the key players in…

Value sales of general merchandise stores in Germany rebounded in 2023, following the previous year’s decline. The latter was driven by department stores, with the channel’s sales falling by double digits due to temporary store closures. Although the…

The performance of general merchandise stores in Ireland in 2023 was being supported by the positive trajectory of department stores. There was a strong rebound in department stores in 2022, following the disruptions seen during the era of the…

In 2023, a year characterised by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and high inflation, Poundland was one of the more active players in general merchandise stores in the UK, placing a strong focus on pricing and expanding its product range. In March…

General merchandise stores recorded dynamic double-digit growth in current value terms in 2022 with department stores and variety stores both seeing elevated sales. This performance was backed by a renewed sense of optimism as concerns around the…

Variety stores in Finland witnessed a stellar performance in 2023, with current value growth reaching double-digits. Providing a wide offering of cheap products, variety stores have proved attractive to consumers in the economic downturn, as these…

General merchandise stores saw continued current value growth in Greece in 2023. Many brands continue to invest heavily in traditional advertising, such as through television, since it still manages to target consumers aged above 40 years old who…

Within general merchandise stores, department stores accounted for significantly more value sales than variety stores in Turkey in 2023. The only major player in variety stores is German global player Tchibo, while there are three significant players…

Action continued to record growth in current value terms in 2023, albeit at a slower pace than in 2022. Action is a chain of discounter variety stores which has benefited from the challenging economic environment with consumers coming to its stores…

General merchandise stores recorded a decline in sales in Switzerland in 2023, mainly as a result of the performance of department stores, which are often considered outdated and old-fashioned and are increasingly being replaced by shopping malls and…

In 2023, general merchandise stores in Portugal consist of department and variety stores, both of which continued on a strong growth path, recording double-digit retail value growth. In an economic adverse period, selling low-priced products…

Having seen solid growth in the previous year as the channel seemed to be recovering from the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis, general merchandise stores saw sales decline again in Denmark in 2023. This came before the channel had returned to…

General merchandise stores in Belgium registered a slight decline in sales in current value terms in 2023, despite ongoing price rises. This was primarily due to the negative performance of department stores, which suffered from competition from…

Department stores benefited from the increase in inbound tourists seen in Spain in 2023 as foreign tourists love to go to places such as El Corte Inglés to do their shopping and to partake in the uniquely Spanish experience found in its outlets.…

General merchandise stores continued to significantly outperform retailing overall in terms of value sales growth due in the main to the continuing expansion and success of variety stores. It was one of the areas least affected by the generally sharp…

Department stores in France has witnessed a significant post-pandemic turnaround over 2021-23, recovering from a particularly challenging 2020, which marked one of the retail market's lowest performances. The strong rebound was driven by an increase…

In Norway, general merchandise stores only includes variety stores, as there are no department stores in the country. In 2020, the channel saw exceptional current value growth as consumers looked for items such as cleaning products when the pandemic…